Age-related differences during stop-ball small-sided games in youth soccer

Stop-ball small-sided games (SSGs-SB) have been proposed as an effective scoring method to influence physical and physiological responses in young soccer player. The aim of present study is to examine the differences in external and internal load variables across U-13, U-14 and U-15 players during SSGs-SB.

Ninety-six male soccer players (32 players in each group) from teams competing in Italian regional championship were involved. The experimental design consisted of a 4 vs. 4 played on a 25×20 m pitch, including 4x3' of work separated by 2 min of passive recovery. During SSG-SB, players were monitored using 18.18 Hz global positioning system devices (GPEXE^® SYSTEM, EXELIO srl, Udine, Italy). Total distance, peak velocity, distance covered at high-speed running 13-18 km∙h^-1, sprint running >18 km∙h^-1, number of sprint, acceleration >2.5 m∙s^-2, deceleration <-2.5 m∙s^-2, maximal acceleration and deceleration, high metabolic load distance and rating of perceived exertion were measured.

U-15 team exhibited greater physical demands compared with U-13 team (P<0.001 for all comparisons), whereas younger counterparts significantly (P<0.001) reported higher RPE scores than U-15 players.

The present study suggests that SSGs-SB designs should be tailored according to chronological age to support an appropriate long-term development process in youth soccer players.